Can audio logs/diaries work in film?

So one of my characters (who is an anti-villain/main character of another story turned the second main protagonist) big character moment is when he finds an series of audio logs/diaries from a man (one of the villains) he calls a surrogate father. This causes him to switch sides to the other main characters (their are in a war on the two opposing sides).

Can this work or does it only work in video games?

Why do you think it can only work in video games?

Almost anything can work if done right.
The things that don't work in a movie are often things done wrong: too boring, illogical, too convenient, too much deus ex machina, unbelievable, too cheesy, too cliché, etc.
But for a lot of things that don't work in one movie, you can often find a movie in which it did work.

So, yes, it can work if done well, so it makes sense, without being too much on the nose and/or too boring.